A Bet Over Burgers
by hoihoiochibi
Summary: Momo and Ryoma make a bet. Can Ryoma manage to ask Sakuno out, even if it's over burgers? RyoSaku. My first fanfic, COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**I do NOT own Prince of Tennis. If I did, I'd be dancing around with joy.**

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**Chapter 1**

It was a hot summer day, and Ryoma was eating burgers (like always) with Momo.

"You have to do it eventually, you know," Momo said, in between swallows of his burger. "Come on, just ask Ryuzaki out."

"I will if you will," Ryoma replied, also in between swallows of his burger.

"Whadya mean, _if I will_?"

"You know. Ann."

Momo hit him on the back of his head. "Shut up, baka. I'll be right back. I need to get more burgers."

Ryoma looked over at Momo's tray. " You still have five."

"I know. I still need more."

"Baka." Ryoma continued eating his burger. Momo did have a point. He had to ask Ryuzaki out _some_ time. It had gotten out that they liked each other a while back already. Maybe he could do it tomorrow, maybe the next day, maybe even next week…

"Back," Momo said, his mouth full.

"Baka, don't talk with your mouth full. You're spitting bits of your burger on me." He brushed the little pieces of ground beef patty and sesame seed bun off of his shirt.

Momo swallowed. "Sorry. But seriously, are you going to ask her out soon?"

"Maybe."

Momo looked as if he were thinking. He stuffed his last burger into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and finally began to talk. "How about… if you ask Ryuzaki out this week, I'll pay for burgers for a month."

"But you already do that."

"Oh yeah. Well then, if you don't do it, I'll stop paying for burgers."

"EHHH? Not fair, Momo chan-senpai," he sighed. He muttered something else under his breath, which Momo couldn't really figure out. He had a pretty good guess, though.

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Before he went to sleep that night, Ryoma thought about what he would say when he asked Ryuzaki out. _"Ryuzaki, I was wondering…" No. "I've been thinking about asking…" No. "Do you want to go out for…" No_

_I can always think about it tomorrow,_ he thought. _I still have 6 more days, after all._ With that, he turned off his light and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Alright. I'm going to do it today,_ Ryoma thought, apparently at the wrong time to be thinking about it, because a tennis ball hit him straight on his forehead. He fell down.

"Oi, ECHIZEN! We can't practice if you're spacing out like this!"

He pushed himself back up. "Oh, okay. I'm just a little tired. Couldn't get much sleep yesterday." He faked a yawn. "I'm fine now. Let's keep going."

The next hour or so of the practice was okay, but Ryoma's mind was pretty much occupied by his bet with Momo. Even if it was over _burgers_, he had to do it, and might as well get something out of it (even though Momo paid for burgers anyways).

Practice finally ended. "Hey, there she is, go!" Momo said, from behind Ryoma. And there she was, sitting on a bench, talking with Tomoko. He walked over. "Umm… Ryuzaki, can I talk to you?"

"Okay," she walked over to him. "What is it?"

"Do you… Do you want… Do you want some gum?" He weakly reached into his pocket and fished out a stick of gum. Sakuno reluctantly took it.

"Thanks… Well, I'm going to go back to talking with Tomoko now…"

"Oh, okay," Ryoma said, then walked away. He smacked himself in the forehead. _"Do you want some gum?" "DO YOU WANT SOME GUM?" Out of all the things I could have done, I offered her some _gum_! Baka!_ He thought to himself. When he got back, Momo was laughing his head off.

"Do you… Do you want… Do you want some gum?" Momo mocked, in between gasps of air and laughter.

"Shut up."

Momo obviously wasn't listening, because he was still rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach, laughing out loud. Ryoma left and started walking back home. _Baka, don't let this get to you. You don't get embarrassed over things like this. Calm down and you can try again next time._

He arrived home and started up the stairs, his head hung down, when his father popped up. "What is it, Ryoma? Lost a match? Scraped your leg?" He grinned. "Girl trouble?"

He had just finished the last two words when Ryoma's arm met his stomach. He rolled down the stairs. "Definitely…girl…trouble…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ryoma woke up to see the face of Eiji right in front of his. Momo was standing there as well. "Good morning!"

"What the- GET OUT OF HERE! GET! GET!"

"Oi oi, ochibi, no need to get all worked up. We'll go. C'mon, Momo, C'mon." He gestured over to Momo and the two left the room.

_Sheesh,_ Ryoma thought. _Scaring me like that. _He changed out of his pajamas and into his regular clothes, and walked out into the hall.

"Ochibi!"

"You guys waited out here? Sheesh…" He ignored them and walked down the stairs to eat breakfast.

As Ryoma ate his toast, Momo and Eiji hung around and annoyed him. "Do you want some gum?" Eiji said, laughing.

"Momo, you TOLD him? Baka!"

Now, both Eiji and Momo were laughing their heads off.

"Whatever. I'm going to go practice down at the courts. Are you guys coming with me?"

But they were still on the floor, almost crying with laughter. By the time they settled down, Ryoma had already left. " Oi, Momo, do you want to follow him? It could be fun."

"Hehe, sure."

The two followed Ryoma down to the tennis courts. "Oh, Eiji, what day is it today?"

"It is… Tuesday."

"So we still have 5 days including today left for the bet."

Eiji nodded. He and Momo hid behind a clump of bushes. They watched as Ryoma took out his racquet. Just as he did, though, who else but Sakuno came through the court gates. "Psst! Eiji! Look, it's the Ryuzaki girl!"

Ryoma approached Sakuno. "So you're practicing too. Do you need help with anything?"

"Sure," she answered.

The two went onto one of the courts, and started volleying back and forth. "Hey, Momo, this is getting kind of boring."

"We'll stay for just a bit longer."

After a while, they finally stopped playing. Sakuno thanked Ryoma and started to walk away, when Ryoma stopped her. "Wait,"

"H-hai?"

"I was wondering… Are you..." He hesitated. He looked down and mumbled, "Are you free Sunday?"

"What?"

"Are you tired?"

"Um… A little."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm going to go now…"

She left, and when she did, Momo and Eiji popped out from behind the bush. "BAKA!"

Ryoma turned around. "You followed me?!?!?!"

"Well, duh."

"Don't this time. I'm going home," and with that, Ryoma started home.

"Oi, Momo, you think he's okay?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The day after the second (failed) attempt at asking Sakuno out, Ryoma was sitting on his bed, thinking. _Why am I so nervous? This isn't like me._

Just as he finished that thought, his father barged into the room. "RYOMA! SUCK IT UP AND JUST ASK RYUZAKI OUT!"

"Who told you about _that_?"

"That tall friend of yours."

_That damn Momo, _he thought. "Whatever. I will sometime. NOW GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" He threw his clock at the door.

"Sheesh." Nanjiroh went outside and closed the door. _Ah, youth._

Ryoma considered what his father had said. He _did_ just have to suck it up and ask Ryuzaki out. The question was, though, _how_? He glanced at his clock. It was Wednesday. _That leaves four days including today._ Ryoma sighed. He couldn't do it today, he was just going to stay at home. There wasn't any tennis practice or… Tennis practice!_ I FORGOT THERE WAS TENNIS PRACTICE!_ He rushed down the stairs and out the door…

And arrived a half an hour late.

"Gomen, Gomen, Tezuka-buchou. I had-

"Don't even bother to make up an excuse. 30 laps. Go."

"Hai."

Ryoma finished his laps and completed Inui's special training menu (complete with some Super Improved Deluxed Mega Inui Juice which of course, Fuji drank down without a moment's hesitation), and just like that, the practice had ended. Ryuzaki was there, of course. He thought about what his father had said, then finally gathered up the courage to walk up to Sakuno. But, like the last two times, it didn't go so well.

"Ryuzaki?"

"Hai?"

"I just wanted to say… I really like…"He froze up. _What do I say?_

Sakuno's face turned red. _He's going to say it…_

"I really like Ponta."

_He messed up again… time to reply._ "Yeah, I like it too." She forced a laugh. _When is he actually going to ask me out??? It's obvious that he's trying._

"That's all I wanted to say. See you next practice."

"Okay."

Ryoma didn't even have to tell himself that he was stupid. He was pretty aware of it already.

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Will update later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka._ With each of these thoughts, Ryoma slapped his forehead. _The third time! The _third_ time! And this was the worst! "I like Ponta?" I sounded retarded!_

After a while, Ryoma finally calmed down, and realized that he was hungry. He decided to walk down to the burger place, half hoping that Momo would be there to listen to how bad his situation was, and half hoping that he wasn't there, so he wouldn't laugh at him. Even though that's what he thought, he knew it was ridiculous, because _Ryoma_ didn't have "strong" feelings, and if he did, he didn't tell anyone about them. _Ah well,_ he thought,_ Nothing to get worked up over._

He arrived at the burger place, walked in, ordered, picked up his food, and sat down at a table to eat, when who else but Momo came in. "Echizen! What a coincidence. Wait, don't start without me." He laughed, and walked over to the cashier. Not to Ryoma's surprise, Momo came back with a tray stacked with burgers.

"So, did you ask her out yet? We have what, four, almost three days left?"

"No. I said something stupid again." Ryoma laughed.

"What was it this time?"

" 'I like Ponta,'"

Momo immediately started laughing, unfortunately while chewing his burger. Pieces of meat and bun flew onto Ryoma. He brushed them all of, and wiped his shirt with a napkin.

Seeing what he had done, Momo apologized. "Sorry, sorry, but 'I like Ponta'? You crack me up."

"Shut up."

"Hahahaha, alright. Well, I'm gonna go now."

In a period of about five minutes, Momo had finished about ten burgers. _I still don't understand how he does that_,Ryoma thought to himself.

After Momo left, Ryoma was just about done too, and left shortly after. Once he got outside, he realized it was getting dark. He ran back home and went up to his room, and after a while, went to sleep.

_Three days left._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Third time's the charm- or fourth, whatever. No more freezing up. Next time, I'll definitely do it,_ Ryoma thought, but even has he thought it, he doubted himself. He'd told himself to suck it up and just do it _last _time, but obviously _that_ didn't work out. Ryoma was once again sitting on his bed, just thinking about what he would do. The next tennis practice was on Saturday, the last day of his bet with Momo. _Damn,_ he thought. That left only one more chance for Ryoma to ask Ryuzaki out. One more! If he didn't do it, all that would happen would be that his burgers wouldn't be paid for by Momo. That was easily solved though; He could simply convince Eiji to pay instead. But Ryoma knew that if he didn't do it this time, he would never do it (unless, of course, there was another bet, but he couldn't afford to lose Eiji as a "burger sponsor" too). He sighed. _Maybe a nap would calm me down, _he thought. Ryoma looked at his clock, and seeing that it was 3 o' clock in the afternoon, decided to sleep for about an hour or so.

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Ryoma woke up and yawned. He rolled over and glanced at his clock. It was 6:30. _So much for an hour,_ he thought. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. _Boy, I'm hungry._ He walked downstairs and found his aunt cooking dinner. "Will it be done anytime soon?"

"Just a moment, Ryoma-kun!" She smiled.

By the time Ryoma had finished his meal, it was 7 o' clock, and because he took a long nap, he couldn't sleep when he tried. He ended up playing tennis with his father until it was almost midnight, when he finally slept.

_Two more days, and only one more chance._

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Sorry for the wait, stupid writer's block. Will keep adding later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_I hate summer, _Ryoma thought, fanning himself while he walked down to the street tennis courts. Momo had called him and told him to meet him there, so they could kick some doubles ass.

When he arrived, Momo was already there. "Oi! Finally here, I see."

Ryoma took out his racquet and walked onto the court with Momo. Their opponents were a thin, wiry guy and a big, hulky, fat guy. _Strange combination,_ he thought. _Let's see what they're made of…_

It turned out that they weren't hard at all. Ryoma could even think about the bet, all the while beating them badly. _Last chance._ Return. _What should I do?_ Let Momo get it. _I'll have to do it, but I'll need to think about how to say it…_ Slide. _How about…_ Drive B. _"Ryuzaki, I've wanted to ask you out for a long time already, but I haven't found the courage to do so… but- _Let Momo get this one. _I'm sure now. Will you go out with me?"_ Serve.

It went on like this for just a little longer, and they had already won. "We won already? That was too easy," Momo said.

"I'll say," Ryoma said. "Well, I'm going to go. If the rest of these guys are the same, there's no point in staying."

As he walked away, he glanced back and saw the two guys they had just beaten, just sitting on the groun and whimpering. _Idiots,_ he thought.

"Oi, Ryoma," he heard, from behind him.

"Huh?" He turned around and saw Momo running towards him.

"Don't forget about the bet. One more day!" He laughed and ran back.

_Baka. Like I would forget._

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Ryoma awoke from his nap (which he took after coming back from the tennis courts). _What the hell was that?_

He had a dream that he actually asked Ryuzaki out, and she said yes, and it got all mushy and whatnot. Ryoma never had very clear dreams, so he couldn't remember any more than that.

_Gah, I'm thinking too much about it._

And that was the last time he did, for that day, anyways. Except, of course, at night (as he always did).

_Tomorrow's going to be a big day. I have to ask her out!_

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It's late at night and I can't think too well, so this'll be it for today. Last (or second to last) will be out tomorrow, or the next day if I'm lazy.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Ryoma woke up to the shrill call of his alarm clock. "Uhh. Lemmesleep. Tootired." He fumbled with the clock and hit the Snooze button, but just as he did, he realized that he had tennis practice that day. "I'm up!" He brushed his teeth, changed, and walked down stairs.

As he was just about to walk out the door, his aunt asked him if he wanted some toast. He took one, said a quick "Arigato," and walked outside.

It was a surprisingly cold day, considering that it was summer, and Ryoma forgot to bring a jacket, he didn't mind. Temperature never really had a big effect on him, whether it was extremely hot or extremely cold.

He arrived at tennis practice on time, for the first time in a while. He took out his racquet and practice started.

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"Fuji, you messed up," Inui said, handing the prodigy a cup with a mysterious orange liquid inside. Fuji gulped it down excitedly.

"Hehe, your juice gets better every time, Inui," Fuji said, with a smile.

"This time, I added a little orange juice and also some egg yolk."

"Ehh? Is that so? I tasted lemon for some reason."

Inui just smiled.

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"All right, practice is over for today. Our next practice will be next Wednesday."

"Hai, Ryuzaki-sensei!" all of the tennis team exclaimed.

After they were dismissed, Ryoma looked around to find Sakuno. He didn't see her. Just as he was about to give up, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around.

"Hi, Ryoma-kun."

"Huh?" He finally realized who it was that was talking to him and he replied, "Oh, hey… Ryuzaki."

"Well, I just wanted to say hi. And… bye, I guess." She started walking away.

"Wait, Sakuno."

She turned around. That was the first time he had called her Sakuno. It was always Ryuzaki.

Ryoma suddenly froze up, but he knew this was his last chance and shook it off. "Do you want to go out for lunch sometime? Maybe…tomorrow?"

Her face turned bright red and this time _she_ froze up. She finally understood what was happening, though, and quickly replied. "H-hai!"

_Shit, what do I say now?_ "Umm, well, I have your number, –wait lemme check, yeah- so, I'll call you tomorrow."

"Hai!"

"Well, see you tomorrow then!" And trying to act cool, Ryoma turned around and started to walk away. He looked back, and seeing that Sakuno had her back turned, he smiled.

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Epilogue coming soon.  
_  
_


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"More burgers, Sakuno?" Momo asked.

"Arigato, Momo!"

He muttered something and went over to the cashier to order more.

"Do you like it, Sakuno?" Ryoma said, after he swallowed his burger.

"Hai! Now I understand why you guys are always here." She smiled.

"Oh, you've got some stuck in between your teeth."

"Really? I-

"Let me get it for you." He pulled her close and kissed her.

She blushed and turned away. "That was… good and all, but was there really a bit of burger stuck there? It would have been kind of gross…"

"No, fortunately…" He smiled, and they both laughed.

And all the time, Momo was watching.


End file.
